Principals' Sensemaking in the Path of Fundamental Reform Document of Education Implementation

Abstract

The implementation of the Fundamental Reform Document of Education (FRDE) has been one of the significant issues of the education system in our country in the last decade. FRDE, similar to all educational policies and reforms, is affected by the adaption process and is not necessarily implemented according to policymakers’ intentions.The aims of this study is to understand and explain the meaning made by school principals of their role during the implementation of FRDE and investigates how to implement the transformation document. This qualitative study was conducted using the phenomenology method and based on the cognitive framework of sensemaking. Data was gathered through semi-structured and in-depth interviews with 8 public high school principals in four district 3, 6, 7, and 13 of Tehran. Participants were selected using purposive sampling. Data analysis method of Miles et al. (2014) led to the formation of three main theme categories “ambiguty”, “documentary”, and “individual and situational factors”. Finding illuminates, the ambiguity of FRDE’s text and how it is transitioning to practice. The requirement to act in such a situation leads principals to make another sense of their role and they perceive themselves as documenters. In light of the findings, forming this meaning was affected by individual factors including same-old and to-no-avail attempts, as well as situational factors including the extent of applying, rules and regulations, and value position. According to the findings, despite the efforts made to implement the FRDE in schools, the main purpose of the implementation of it has not been achieved. The attention of policymakers to the factors that shape sensemaking can help in designing educational policies and more effective implementation.

Keywords

• policy implementation
• educational reforms
• reform document
• school principals
• sensemaking